From the readers

KURT WILCKEN / UAW LOCAL 2376

Debunking those crazy health care rumors

My inbox has been flooded with e-mails spreading crazy rumors (and outright lies!) about health reform, so I wanted to share some facts about what's really going on:

Medicare will not be ended, and no benefits or services will be cut.

No legislation currently in Congress would mandate the rationing of care. Period.

There is no provision of any piece of legislation that would promote euthanasia of any kind.

Jim Copley
UAW Local 533 retiree
Fostoria, Ohio

Quit trash-talking UAW, other unions

Nearly everyone who lives in the Midwest is familiar with the saying, "If you complain about farmers, then don't talk with your mouth full."

Sometimes it's hard to understand the disrespect shown for those who sacrifice so much of their lives to till the land and feed the world.

As UAW members, it's high time we apply that same philosophy to unions and the benefits they have won and help protect for all workers. Without the sacrifices of our union brothers and sisters of days gone by, there would be no such things as paid holidays, paid vacation days, health care plans, overtime pay, unemployment pay, retirement pay, etc.

Dedicated union activists helped bring about the National Labor Relations Act, pushed through Social Security, the Family Medical Leave Act and made workplace safety an important issue in our society.

Without the sacrifices of many of our brothers and sisters in the past, we would still be working in sweatshops seven days a week, 16 hours a day, for wages that would guarantee that we lived a life of poverty and our children and grandchildren did the same.

If the elite class and large global corporations have their way, and we as workers continue down the path of least resistance that so many blindly travel today, those days will return sooner than any of us would like to think. The only thing that can stop this trend is us. It's up to us to get involved, make our collective voices heard, and guarantee that workplace justice and equality survive.

Take a good look at what you have, think about those who sacrificed so much to make sure you have what you have today, and join hands with your brothers and sisters in the fight to guarantee that you keep what you have in the future.

The next time you hear someone talking trash about the UAW – or unions in general – speak out. Tell them that they're wrong. Tell them not to trash-talk your union or any union.

Charlie Fisher
UAW Local 2379
Argyle, Mo.

Stop infighting and bring our work back

Ten years ago General Motors was getting ready to close Buick City (in Flint, Mich., UAW Local 599). Buick City built the best cars at a higher rate than GM had seen before (yet we were closed). And here we are today with GM still pressing one local against another.

It's time we stopped fighting each other for work. It's time we truly come together and work to change the laws that allow and even encourage automakers to take work out of the country. Let's bring our work back.

Nelson H. Dake
UAW Local 599 retiree
Flint, Mich.

Clinton didn't heed UAW warning

Just finished the July-August issue of Solidarity and found former President Bill Clinton's statement "Well, what do you think? Will GM make it?" astonishing.

If he's truly concerned about the state of the American auto industry, why didn't he heed the UAW's warning back in 1993 about the consequences of passing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he promoted and passed with former Vice President Al Gore's help?

Paul Wohlfarth
UAW Local 12 retiree
Ottawa Lake, Mich.

2 ideas on health care and trade deals

I was reading in the paper that if 3 cents was added to each bottle of pop (soda) sold, there would be billions of dollars for health care.

I've got an idea: Add 5 cents to each small item and 5 cents for each pound of large items coming into this country from foreign producers. Take these billions and fund health care for everyone. If the American people want to buy foreign products, let them pay for health insurance.

Second idea: Let unions negotiate trade bills. The people in Washington who make these trade deals are in the pockets of large corporations.

Bob Miller, retiree
Pipefitters Local 1111
Indianapolis

Why subsidizing foreign automakers is 'baloney'

As a retired GM worker, I'm appalled that our government, in this new "cash for clunkers" program, would give money to those who purchase a foreign car.

I think that's a bunch of baloney.

These foreign governments subsidize their car companies, and U.S. consumers continue to buy foreign vehicles. They should be ashamed to let our car companies go through this terrible restructuring.

No one can tell me that we do not make good cars. All I can do is pray for my brothers and sisters that someday people will wake up and buy American.

Quentin T. Riha
UAW Local 572
Detroit

A simple thank you from surviving spouse

My husband, Eugene Murray, worked for Budd Co. in Philadelphia for 30 years and was a member of UAW Local 813. He's deceased now, but thanks to him, the UAW and Budd Co., I've been able to get along with his pension and benefits.

And I just had to write to say thank you.

Rose M. Murray
West Deptford, N.J.

Because we receive so many letters to Solidarity, we cannot print them all and reserve the right to edit for length. Please keep letters brief and include your name, address, daytime phone and local union number. Send to Solidarity magazine, UAW, 8000 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, MI 48214, or e-mail to uawsolidarity@uaw.net.